Dental Geology + Repost

A lot of nice depth to this, the teeth draw you in to the nice sky..
Maybe open up the left side a tad?

I definitely think the shot is pleasing.  I guess my initial thought is that the angular rocks are pointing to something, but in this case it seems more out of the frame than in the frame.  Those rocks in the background look familiar, have I seen them before?  Just can't place them.  I do think the large area of rock in the FG does take up too much space for me.  With this view, the most interesting parts are the toothy rocks, distant rocks and sky.  So I might have gone with a vertical, moving close over the littel rocks to emphasize them and still get the clouds.  The lighting is beautiful.

At first this wasn't really working for me, but it definitely grew on me. The light is nice, and I really like those boulders, but I do think there is too much rock in the bottom. I think a crop form the bottom would make the comp a lot stronger, for me at least.

Thanks, everyone.  Here are two other compositions: one with the higher angle perspective, and the other a vertical comp.  After that, the light changed, so this is all I got.

Harry: The rocks in the background are also rocks at the Jumbo Rocks area of Joshua Tree.  Both these rocks and the tree and rock in the "Joshua's Prayer" post were right near our campsite (I think it was campsite 22 or 23.

Let me know if you like either of these new comps better.  Not sure either are worth working on further.  It might just be that I never got my feet in the perfect place.
ML

.....and here is the higher angle but still horizontal.

I think I prefer the vertical comp.  My eye seems to move better through the image with that arrangement.

I think the texture of the clouds versus the texture of the rock works very well here along with the warmth of light to create a very nice image.

The original is working for me. Real nice lines to lead me to that sweet sky. I might kick up the vibrance of the rock a bit, but I like it!

The teeth look like the remains of an Aplite dike. I like original. It has a sense of space and the lines of the large formations lead me into that nice sky. I like the gentle morning light a lot.

--P

Marylynne,
You did some very nice work photographing this. I think the original works quite nice and I really do enjoy looking at it. I don't mind the rock on the left because of it's interesting shape and nice light. My eye travels back through the scene nicely. I also like the vert image you posted very much. That comp works especially nice for me. 

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

My vote is for the original, Marylynne.  Beautiful soft light and a very sweet sky. The large version opens up the shadows just right.

Marylynne,

The first and third horizontal comps work best for me, with the 3rd being the winner for me.  In the first one, I'm visually torn between the foreground and the sky. The same is true in the vertical comp. Also in the vertical comp, at least one half of the cloud isn't really adding much - although it's one terrific cloud. Also, and I'm sure it's the light and the moment, but the middle rocks in the vert comp are flat; I think because they've lost the light a bit.

So, the third one comes together for me because the general framing works so well. All the warmly lit rocks frame the sky beautifully - and the sky is much more interesting here.  And the balance between sky and rocks seems just right.

Certainly a great example how just a small change in viewpoint/angle can change what is emphasized in a comp.

Lon

Thanks, everyone.  I'm not getting notifications for some reason, so I missed the recent run of feedback.  

The light was indeed changing quickly, and I was stuck between a rock and a campsite (not my own) so moving right wasn't possible.  The more I look, the more I like the original.  I wonder if a slight crop off the left would bring more focus ro the dike, the rock pointing at cloud, and the cloud.  

Thanks as always for the feedback.  I couldn't fo this without y'all.
ML